Secret video of carer abuse a 'grey area'

Aged care residents and their families should be able to secretly film carer abuse to help bring offenders to justice, the South Australian Liberals say.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall is pushing to fast-track legislative changes to clear up a legal "grey area" for surveillance of people in aged care.

Video from a secret camera shown on ABC's 7.30 program on Monday appears to show a carer violently force-feeding 89-year-old Clarence Hausler, sneezing on him, pinning his arms down, flicking his nose and holding a large napkin over his face.

Daughter Noleen Hausler installed the hidden camera in her father's room after she became suspicious about her father's bruises in 2015.

She later took the video to police and the carer was convicted of two charges of aggravated assault, the ABC reports.

The aged care facility in question, Mitcham Residential Care Facility in Adelaide, said it didn't tolerate such behaviour.

South Australia's Surveillance Devices Act 2016 allows for covert raw footage to be published and used as evidence if the court deems it to be in the public interest.

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Mr Marshall has requested an urgent meeting with the state government about updating the law to more clearly approve surveillance in such circumstances.

"I think any viewers last night watching their televisions would have been horrified by the scenes on their sets," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"This courageous action by this family member resulted in an atrocity being uncovered and dealt with, but it is a grey area.

"We need to provide assurance to people that this can't be occurring here in South Australia. The current situation, where this person was abused in their own bedroom, is absolutely abhorrent and we need to take decisive action."

Premier Jay Weatherill said it was "absolutely unacceptable" that vulnerable people in aged care were being subjected to abuse.

But he said it was the Commonwealth's responsibility to ensure those in aged care facilities were properly cared for.

"I understand that the person involved has been dealt with through the criminal justice system, but this is unacceptable and the federal government has a responsibility to front the media about this issue," he told radio 5AA.